The Line
by USBiased
Summary: After the Fall of Beacon, Jaune's life spirals downward until he comes to the conclusion that being a Hunter is not helping him. Instead, he leaves Beacon and joins the Valean Marine Corps, becoming a VMCSOC Unit Leader. Now 10 years later after the fall, his unit and Team RWBY is tasked with finding and killing Cinder Fall. There is a point that everyone crosses a line in time...
1. Prologue: Briefing

The day when Beacon was laid in ruins, everyone there, both living and deceased, crossed a line to the point of no return. A line in which one could never return to once crossed. Jaune Arc crossed a line that day and never recovered from it. After returning home from Beacon to recover from the Fall, Arc returned Crocea Mors and his armor to his family members before leaving once again onto a new path. Scarred by the events of the Fall, he instantly joined, not Atlas, but the Valean Marine Corps, wanting to get revenge on the White Fang and whoever else the Kingdom had been attacked by. He cut all of his ties to Beacon Academy, Team JNPR, and RWBY. There wasn't much left there to remember in his mind. Only pain now. It was several years after constant battles against the White Fang, Atlas, and unknown forces did Jaune became a leader again, this time being a Special Operations unit instead.

His team was a squad of four including himself. One of them was a relaxed easy going sniper by the name of Charles "Charlie" Hathcock. He was at least twenty four years of age, had brown hair, slightly tanned skin, and green eyes. He was geared in the basic uniform with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, a kevlar vest with a ammo rig, knee pads on his legs, a small combat backpack on his back, and a olive-drab baseball cap that said "Remember Beacon Academy" on the front. The man had a rough background with his abusive father and managed to join the Corps without letting his father know of his actions. The Corps allowed him to be more relaxed and still be able to do something that didn't involve getting beaten for one mistake. He made it through selection and passed the advanced training and earned his spot in the VMCSOC unit.

The next member was a rather quiet machine gunner named Alan "Al" Schmid. He was a small man, twenty six years of age with black hair and black skin and had glasses over his blue eyes. He wore the basic combat uniform unchanged with the vest, knee and elbow pads, a heavy pack on his back, and the helmet on his head. At first, he seemed more of the scholarly person than a machine gunner for the VMC. However after seeing him screaming a loud battle cry and blasting away hordes of enemy combatants, Jaune changed his opinion about him. Because of his understanding of heavy weapons and his skills, Alan aced the advanced training and earn his spot as a VMCSOC Operative.

The third member member was twenty-six year old Dave "Tiger" Polanski. He was a tiger Faunus with cat-like eyes, a hidden tail, and tiger ears under his black hair. He wore the basic combat uniform with the vest, knee pads, a radio pack on his back, and had a bush cap on his head. Dave came from a poor family somewhere in Menagerie. He managed to secure citizenship in Vale and joined the VMC to earn money to be able to support his family at home. Because of experience involving radio equipment and stealth, he earned a spot on the VMCSOC unit.

Then of course was Jaune "John" Arc himself. He had greatly changed in the past ten years of being in the VMC. No longer was he the adorkable idiot everyone remembers from Beacon Academy. He is now the stern, cold-hearted leader of the VMCSOC unit who only cared about his own men and the idea that Pyrrha Nikos is still alive somewhere. He simply couldn't accept that Pyrrha was dead, instead convincing himself that Cinder had teleported her instead for capture. In fact, right before he left Beacon behind him, he made a vow that he would save her one way or another. To make up for his failure of being strong.

Jaune was now a rough looking man with cold blue eyes, a military haircut so trimmed down his blond hair was now darker in color, and chiseled features. He wore the VMC combat pants and a short sleeved version of the shirt under his vest, knee pads on his legs, a holster on his right thigh for a fifty caliber pistol, a small combat backpack consisting of a Camelback and storage space, a shemagh around his neck, and a simple small earpiece on his right side. He was clearly not the Knight that he once dreamed about becoming until the Fall of Beacon.

Over the past ten years, Cinder has gone underground, waiting to strike again. However, when Jaune became a VMCSOC Unit Leader when he turned twenty-four, his unit was immediately assigned to all Cinder-related missions by the Commandant and Agency of Vytal Director Troy "Marine Recon" Nikos, Pyrrha's father. Jaune believed the reason his unit is tasked with these missions is so he can redeem himself to Commandant Nikos for failing to save his daughter as well as a chance to rescue her. So that was why his entire unit was waiting inside the AOV Headquarters Briefing Room in their Basic Combat Uniforms (BCU) for their new assignment.

Currently the squad was relaxing all over the place, trying to be less tense before the briefing. Charlie was currently sitting in one chair with his head slumped and ballcap pulled down trying to get in a light nap. His legs were up and using another chair as a footrest nearby. Al was currently reading a book silently in another chair, keeping mostly to himself for right now. Tiger was keeping himself occupied by working on some radio puzzle book which trained him in tracking frequencies and pinpointing them out in the field. As for "John", he currently was reading entries from his log book about the unit's past missions. At least that was until four familiar and unwelcome faces entered the room with Commandant Nikos.

John looked up and instantly sent a hardened glare at Team RWBY. He purposefully slammed his logbook shut loudly with one hand, getting the attention of his entire squad. Charlie let out a sigh before sitting up in his seat correctly, adjusting his ballcap. Al simply put his book aside and turned to his leader respectfully. Tiger instantly glared daggers at Blake, obviously having heard or meet her before.

"Oh great. Looks like they sent fresh meat to work with us grunts." Charlie cracked, earning a chuckle from Al. Yang Xiao Long heard this joke and walked over to him. The blonde brawler had a robotic arm for her right arm and was a bit more conservative with her style. She wore a yellow leather jacket, a pair of jeans, boots, and had Ember Cecilia on her wrists.

"Ah. Look at the widdle jarhead who think he is all tough. Too bad, he isn't a big bad huntress like us." Yang taunted back, earning a grimace from Charlie and Al. The unit either was working with other military units or VMC units, never Hunters and Huntresses due to conflicting matters. Huntsmen were always bragged about in the media and that made them more of celebrities instead of heroes or true fighters. Meanwhile Valean Marines fought tooth and limb to protect Vytal and often paid the price for defending the kingdom. Yet they were never talked about or praised for their sacrifices in the line of duty because they were mere grunts and not considered important by the media.

"Hmph. We have to work with the celebrities now? John. Please tell me we don't have to work with them." Al requested, earning a glare from Weiss. The Ice Queen of Beacon Academy now had gained some mass into her chest but she was still more or less the same besides the increase of height. She wore her secondary outfit and had her Myrtenaster on her belt.

"Mind telling us what the issue with working with us is, sir?" Weiss asked with forced politeness, causing Charlie to glare back at her.

"Yeah. I'll tell you what the problem is." Charlie started, starting to make an imitation of a mock girlish voice. "' _Oh my god. How can you just kill your fellow man or Faunus like that?_ ' Or ' _Why would you torture that White Fang for information?_ ' Look. You Huntresses have no idea how Special Operations works. Nor do you guys understand the hardships we 'grunts' go through and end up being the unsung heroes for it."

"Charlie. Stow that shit away." John ordered, earning an instant response from the sniper.

"Yes, sir!" He replied, sitting down back with the squad. Meanwhile, Tiger turned around away from Blake, not bothering to even speak to her. Ruby walked up to John and offered her hand out to him.

"Sorry about that, sir. I really hope that my team doesn't offend you. I'm Ru-" Ruby started out until John cut her off.

"Ruby Rose. Former prodigy of Beacon Academy. Youngest student ever to be accepted into Beacon Academy. Leader of her own team called RWBY with a W instead of a U. Survived the Fall of Beacon ten years ago. Reunited her team in order to track those responsible for it and to assist the people. Became an instant celebrity over night. Used a Scythe-Rifle combo weapon based off your Uncle Qrow." John replied, having remembered this as well as reading her file recently. Ruby was taken back in surprise, clearly shocked at the flow of information John let loose. The woman never expected him to know so much about her. The only other person who would know this would be Jaune but he had been listed as missing by the media and his family.

"Um...Yeah. That's exactly who I am..." Ruby trailed off, still childish even as a grown woman. John stood up and calmly shook her hand, his rough, calloused hand slightly rough on Ruby's somewhat delicate hand. As he dropped the handshake, the Master Sergeant walked back over to his unit and introduced them one by one.

"Alright. The relaxed dude with the ballcap is Corporal Charlie, our squad sniper." Charlie gave a mock salute to Team RWBY before turning back in his seat. "The bookworm is Private First Class Al, our Heavy Weapons Expert." Al waved slightly, not interested at all. "The tiger Faunus over there is Lance Corporal Tiger, the Radio specialist." Tiger simply remained silent through this. "Finally I'm Master Sergeant John, Squad Leader of this group of misfits."

Ruby thought his name sounded similar to Jaune's name but he looked nothing like Jaune. No way would Jaune ever be this cold or rough. He was an aspiring Hunter gone missing, not a Special Operations Leader who was most likely cruel and ruthless to his enemies. At this point, the VMCSOC unit sat down in the chairs as Commandant Nikos stepped up to the podium in front of the room. The Commandant looked more tired and older ever since the Fall of Beacon. However his attitude never faltered even if his daughter was a victim of the Fall.

"Ladies and Gravestone Squad, we are working together on a joint operation." Instantly he received groans from Gravestone about this mission, not liking the partnership already. "Suck it up, Marines. I don't like it as much as you do, but the Council wanted one team of Huntresses on this one as well."

"Commandant Nikos, with all due respect, you hardly ever listen to the Council's orders." John inputted, earning nods of agreement from his subordinates.

"Yeah. Normally they would never have heard of this if the Council hadn't told the media first about it. Now everyone is expecting Team RWBY to be the heroes." Troy replied, earning groans of displeasure.

"Monty Oum. Will those pricks ever let the Marines get their praise at all?" Tiger demanded, shaking his head in disgust. Blake frowned at this, not pleased by his statement.

"Hey. At least people will realize Faunus can save lives and be heroes." Blake replied, earning a harsh laugh from Tiger.

"Oh spare me the crap, sister. The VMC is made up of humans and Faunus working together to defend the Kingdom and we hardly get any recognition for our sacrifices. It's all because of you Hunters and Huntresses that we are not even known widely about or even thanked for our service." Tiger pointed out, his fangs visible in his mouth. Blake leaned back in surprise at this news, never once hearing about such a thing before. "Yeah. Surprised aren't ya?"

"Can it, Lance Corporal. No more arguing." John silenced him instantly. He turned his head to the Commandant and nodded his head. "Continue, sir."

"As I was saying. This is a joint-operation. We have some information that Cinder is hiding out in the last place anyone would hide out in. The buried city of Sahara." This caused some concerned mumbling from both teams. Everyone had heard the story involving the disaster of Sahara. The entire city was struck by a massive sandstorm and everyone there, except for the elitists who fled, was stranded. In response, the 33rd VMC "Damned" Battalion under the last Head Chairman, Kurtz, went in to rescue the survivors and instantly were branded as deserters and traitors to Vale without warning. Since then, no one but Troy Nikos knew what happened there, all of it buried under the sand and lies.

"I don't see why they would hide out there. That place has been ruined for years since that VMC Battalion destroyed it." Weiss commented, earning a glare from Troy.

"That's because the place has been abandoned for over two decades, Miss Schnee. It makes perfect sense that they would be based in Sahara. No way was that sandstorm that wiped out the city natural. Even the world's brightest meteorologists were through off by its sheer size. It might be caused by supernatural causes." Al brought up, earning a nod from the Commandant.

"That's correct, PFC. It's the perfect hideout for them. Secluded, uncharted and no one has desire to return to it. Until now that is." The commandant continued, turning on a holoprojector. It lit up, revealing a 3D map the area of Sahara. "Both Teams will be dropped outside of the sandstorm wall tomorrow at 1000 Hours before making their way through the storm. The storm would ruin a Cheyanne's engine so you will have to walk through it. Once you're inside, locate and capture or kill Cinder Fall. If you find her boss there, then kill the head at once. That way there will be no repeat of the Fall of Beacon."

That moment, Blake chose to raise her hand and ask him a question. "Sir. What if we find any members of the White Fang or maybe anyone fighting for Cinder and her allies? Do we capture them as well?"

"Negative. Any White Fang members in the city are to be exterminated with extreme prejudice. Leave no hostiles alive in those ruins." The Commandant informed them, making Team RWBY horrified by this order. Gravestone, on the other hand, cheered and grunted at this. Blake was also horrified by this and started to sputter out her objections.

"Wait! We can't do that! They may be hostiles but they are still people! You can't just kill them!" Blake protested, earning vicious glares from Gravestone Squad. John got up and walked in front of the Cat Faunus, his cold eyes locked into hers.

"They joined sides with the ones responsible for killing many innocent people and the Fall of Beacon Academy. They are not people, but monsters that think they are people. They will not hesitate to kill us if they see us in Sahara so I expect you to kill them before they kill you. Just because you believe in mercy doesn't mean these fuckers deserve any." John coldly told her, venom leaking from his voice. She instantly realized this man had a huge grudge against the White Fang and Cinder so there was no arguing with him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Tiger smirk at her shock and made a neck slash motion with his hand. John got out of her face and turned to Commandant Nikos. "Gravestone will be ready for tomorrow's mission. We need to gear up and get ready."

"Very well." Troy replied, walking over to place a hand on John's shoulder. "Team RWBY, you will listen to this man and follow his every order once you are in the ruins of Sahara. He has more combat experience than all four of you combined. Stick to him and you might live longer. Isn't that right, Master Sergeant 'John' Arc?"

The revelation of his identity shook Team RWBY to its foundation at the realization that the cold-hearted man was actually Jaune Arc. Ruby suddenly looked more carefully and noted that he did have the same eye color as before, only more dulled instead of bright. She could vaguely make out the resemblance to her original friend and concluded it was really him. Suddenly tears came out of her eyes when she realized that Jaune had changed after all. Just not in a way she was expecting.

"Jaune...Is that really you?" Ruby asked with a shaky breath and tears running down her eyes. Instead of returning the tears or even saying hello, he sternly nodded his head to her once. Then he turned to Gravestone and made a circular motion with his right hand before pointing his hand at the door. The squad got out of their seats and made their way out the door, barely glaring at the team of Huntresses. John followed after them, giving a salute to the Commandant before he left. "That...That really was him...Oh my Oum...He...He really has taken her death the worse."

"Actually he is currently in denial of my daughter's death, Miss Rose." Commandant Nikos admitted, picking up a coffee mug off a nearby table. He walked over to a full coffee pot and poured some into it. "He has it in his mind that Pyrrha wasn't killed but teleported elsewhere by Cinder. Hell, even his own men believe this to be true to the point they would gladly go into hell with him to save her. He blames himself for her death, Miss Rose. Something I'm sure you blamed yourself on as well."

"Well yeah. But that was because I accepted it and witnessed it first-hand. Cinder incinerated Pyrrha up on the tower!" Ruby exclaimed, the now long haired woman walking over to Commandant Nikos. "Look. You have to pair us with another team if Jaune is mentally unstab-"

"Enough!" Commandant Nikos exclaimed, slamming the pot back into the coffee machine. He was clearly pissed since his ears were pointed back and his canines showing. "Master Sergeant Arc may be wrong about Pyrrha but he is not unstable if he has served ten years in combat without trouble. He needs this mission to help him with closure and acceptance. So killing Cinder Fall would help him. Is that clear, Miss Rose?"

Ruby looked up nervously at the Commandant, somewhat terrified of his outburst. She shakily nodded her head and led her team out of the room. Once they left the room, Ruby shivered, pulling her red cloak closer to herself. Yang put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her. "If you need me to, I will beat some sense into Jaune to get him to let Pyrrha go."

"No, Yang. He will not be letting go of his false hope so don't start any more trouble." Ruby replied, continuing down the hall with her team. "The Commandant said that 'John' is not unstable. That and he has more combat experience in this field of work."

Weiss, being the one who still disliked Jaune, huffed at this statement in disbelief. "Please. As if that failure could be better than one fully trained Hunter."

"Looks can be deceiving, Weiss." Blake warned her, stretching her arm for a moment. "They all had their Aura unlocked anyway so they must have some experience to take down Hunters before."

While Huntresses and Hunters were famous for their use of Aura and Semblance, the VMC basic requirements had everyone in the Corps with their Aura unlocked for defense purposes and were trained in combating Aura users as well as the normal threatens. Some Marines even used their own Semblance to assist in fights as well as making them support units. VMCSOC Operatives all had Aura unlocked and had discovered their Semblance during selection or prior to selection. This allowed for a more tactical over dangerous opponents a unit would face.

As Team RWBY left the building, Gravestone Squad was creating a checklist and getting their gear together. They were each bringing two weapons with them, one primary along with a secondary. Charlie was bringing an Assault Rifle along with a sniper rifle due to his MOS in the squad. Al packed up a Squad Automatic Weapon along with a .45 Caliber Pistol. Tiger was armed with a silenced Assault Rifle and a shotgun in case of emergency close encounters. The last one to grab his weapons was John who picked up his Assault Rifle and .50 Caliber Pistol. As he was about to close his locker, his eyes rested on Pyrrha's headdress, the only thing he kept as a reminder to never give up his personal mission. "Don't worry, Pyrrha. I'm coming for you."

With that, he picked up her headdress and placed it into his pack before shutting the locker.

 **Marinerecon presents...**

 **THE LINE**

 **Okay. I got the inspiration for this story after watching the last episode of RWBY Volume 3 and remembered one of my old X-Box 360 games, Spec Ops: The Line. In my mind, Jaune, instead of moving on and being a Hunter, would deny Pyrrha's death and join the military instead in order to be stronger after failing to save Pyrrha. Pyrrha's "disappearance" would make him more cold and unemotional person to others except to the men in his unit. So this is inspired by Spec Ops: The Line in a way. Anyway, this is only the first chapter of the story which I call The Line.**


	2. Act 1: Insertion

**Act 1: Insertion**

Around 0600, Gravestone was awoke by their alarm and shot out of their bunks. John looked at his men as he pulled on his desert combat uniform. Everyone was tense and silent, being the fact that they were going on the most important mission in their lives. The one that could end the chaos globally across Remnant. And yet, at the same time, they would still never receive any recognition for their hard work due to Team RWBY being with them to "raise the public morale and reinstate hope in Hunters and Huntresses". The feeling of being neglected was shared with all of the VMC.

Al, instead of his long sleeved shirt, chose to go with a black air-breathing shirt under his vest and a smaller pack over his usual heavy backpack. Tiger put on a desert camouflage bush cap and readied his silenced M35A2 Assault Rifle. This variant was used by the entire VMCSOC units for its reliability and the fact a silencer could be added to the barrel, unlike the standard issue M41A Dust Pulse Rifle. (The M35A2 is the Assault Rifle version of an M27 with a silencer, EoT Holographic Sight, a vertical grip, and a laser sight.) Charlie still kept his "Remember Beacon Academy" baseball cap on as he geared up in his own desert equipment. John pulled on his combat gloves and picked up his own M35A2 Assault Rifle, his having the dual switch sights of red dot and a scope instead of the Holographic sight.

Everyone then proceed out the room, moving quietly down the hall to the airship pads. Even though they were in no hurry, they grabbed breakfast to go and sat in the hold of a parked Bullhead for now. They eat their breakfast before breaking the silence by talking about various things involving what to do in the mission.

"Hey, John. If I see Cinder Fall in my scope, do you want me to save her for you or what?" Charlie asked, munching on his plate of SOS. John thought about for a quick second, eating his own plate of SOS.

"If you see her, plug one in her leg or try to guide us to her. Either way, if needed, just shoot her in the chest. We need to be able to snap a picture of the body to confirm if it was Cinder Fall or not." John replied, setting down his plate for a second. Charlie shook his head to this answer, understanding the ROE on Fall. Meanwhile, Al and Tiger were discussing books and their authors.

"Look. All I'm saying is Mark Dwayne wrote some interesting classics, but they are nothing compared to the books about the VMC and the conflicts they fought written by our buddies that are no longer with us." Al pointed out to Tiger, the Faunus speaking in return.

"I know what you are getting at and I agree with you completely. However Dwayne focused more of the time right after the Great War and before the Faunus-Human conflicts. It had to been interesting to see entire towns able to work together without prejudice separating it up. Like how Calm Waters is today. It's the only known popular town that humans and Faunus live in harmony."

"Yeah. Even though it almost came close to getting razed to the ground by the White Fang." Al replied, leaning back into a seat. Calm Waters was the target of a massive terrorist take over by the White Fang. They were going to seize the town and then make examples of the Faunus they called 'traitors to their own kind'. They would have if the VMC units at the nearby desert outpost hadn't caught wind of this attack. The VMC instantly placed themselves in the path of danger and fought off the White Fang, driving them off in a Pyrrhic Victory. Out of the 300 Marines that defended the town, only 73 were still alive from the battle. However the White Fang, with 1000 members sent to attack the town, lost 798 of its own members and were forced to give up the takeover. The Marines had saved the town only to have a team of Hunters show up and start cleaning up the remaining White Fang members. The media (With the Council's help) twisted it and claimed that the unit was almost overran until a team of Hunters, Team CRDL in fact, showed up and saved the day. Gravestone was at that battle and knew it was fucking Minotaurus-shit. In fact, the people of Calm Waters knew it and that was why the statue of three Marines in combat positions firing in the same direction was built in the town square in honor of the sacrifice of the Marines.

"Yeah...yeah..." Tiger trailed off, remembering the battle himself. His face went downfallen and shook his head. "It's a shame that our honor was tarnished by those Hunters though. They were never there when we were first attacked and nor did they even show up until after the White Fang retreated." At this disgruntlement, Tiger threw his empty water bottle at a nearby trashcan, landing it inside the trash. The truth was every time the VMC was the real heroes of the battle, the credit was given to someone else instead of them. In fact, there had been a general consensus to protest against this disgrace by protesting in front of the Council Building if it happens again one more time.

Two hours had passed when Team RWBY finally showed up in their same combat gear as the day before with the exception of backpacks on their backs. Charlie noticed this and started laughing. "What are you girls thinking? Are you that stupid?"

Yang walked over to Charlie with her fist raised. "No, grunt. We just don't need to be dressed like you guys. Huntresses show no fear so why wear what you guys are wearing?"

"Because in the desert, it gets over one hundred degrees in temperature with no clouds or water. That and the enemy can see you first if you are dressed up like that." Charlie snarked back, getting up to face her. Both Yang and Charlie were the same height so they could make eye contact with each other easily. "Now why don't you, Snow White, Red Riding Hood and the Black Cat head back and find some real combat clothing to change into, eh Goldilocks?"

This earned a series of "ohs" and "Oh. You got roasted" from John, Tiger and Al. Yang's eye twitched at this but she simply stood down when Ruby gave her a glare that told her no. Ruby walked into the bullhead and sat down across from John as everyone loaded up on the aircraft. The two pilots climbed up front into the cockpit, everyone buckled up in the back. Gravestone and Team RWBY sat on opposite sides, silently glaring at each other for a while. John was currently reading over the mission file once more before turning on his earpiece. "Alright. We will be at the dropzone in two hours so for now, use that time to get acquainted with us, Huntresses. We are your best hope for surviving the hellhole called Sahara."

"I guess it's you Marines have experience from your own fuck ups then. Especially when you guys could barely defend yourselves from a White Fang attack." Weiss coldly replied, earning a glare from the unit. Instantly Tiger jumped from his seat and tried to attack the Schnee while John and Al held him back.

"The fuck did you say about Calm Waters, bitch!?" Tiger shouted, being pulled back into your seat. "Over two hundred men and women gave up their lives to save that town and now you spit on their sacrifices! We saved that town and forced the White Fang to retreat before they could make one step into Calm Waters! The media is a fucking liar!"

"Tiger! Get your shit together and calm down!" John ordered, earning a glance from the tiger Faunus. The man remained silent for a while before nodding his head. "Understood, Master Sergeant."

"Good." John started, nodding his head at Tiger. Then he turned to Weiss and gave her the most darkest glare of a lifetime with his fist raised. "As for you, Schnee, you will not insult our honor or sacrifices we make. We may be not talked about in the media, but we did save Calm Waters and various other events that Hunters end up taking false credit for. So do yourself a favor and shut your mouth before I shut it for you with my fist. Understood?"

If Weiss thought Jaune would still be the same person from long ago, she was dead wrong now. There was no sign of the optimistic, annoying dork in this new version of Jaune. In fact, he seemed the exact opposite of the original Jaune she once remembered. Shaking in fear, she instantly nodded her head, unable to respond visibly. Satisfied by this, John sat back down and returned to his briefing.

"As I was saying, listen to us and you will stay alive through this ordeal. I do not care if you are Huntresses. This White Fang, the sand, the terrain, the storm, anything in this place will kill you if you do not be careful or listen to our advice. Now, stay alert for now. Anything can go wrong even before the insertion so stay focused." John finished up, handing the mission file back to the copilot. He sat back down again and prepared his assault rifle. He doubled checked his magazines before pulling one off his chest rig. He slammed it into the magazine slot of the rifle and chambered a round into it. Ruby looked at him and decided to speak.

"Jaune. I'm really sorry about Pyrrha-" "I know you are, Ruby. However it isn't your fault that she got captured." John cut her off, looking up at her. His eyes, while still dulled in brightness, we're not as cold as they were before. "You didn't expect it and I failed to be strong enough to save her. However, in this mission, we are getting her back. After I put a bullet through that Fall bitch's head."

"Amen, John." Charlie muttered a reply, adjusting his ballcap again. The unit went back to their silence, deep in thought about the mission ahead. Two hours later as they approached the drop point, John decided to have the unit say some sort of pray because Team RWBY heard them saying something together with their heads bowed and caps and helmets off.

"Heavenly Oum. We pray for you to give us our constant strength and resolve as we head down into the valley of death. Let no Marine be abandoned but for all us as brothers in arms to go down together should our time come. Let us be able to cover each other's sixes and all around. Let us have the power to kill our enemies before they shall kill us. Leads safely through the gates of Hell and out of it as we bring down those who threaten peace and prosperity of our Kingdom and its people. In the name of the powerful Monty Oum. Amen."

Suddenly the two teams felt the Bullhead drop down slowly and John opened the side door on his left. Outside was a sea of sand and a massive sandstorm separating them from the ruins of Sahara. Once the aircraft got close enough to the ground, Gravestone was already out of the aircraft and securing the area. Team RWBY casually walked out of the Bullhead and looked around at the desert. The Bullhead took off as Gravestone Squad pull on goggles and their shemaghs over their faces to prevent the sand from hurting their eyes and lungs. Team RWBY had to stop and do the same, now regretting to listen to their advice regarding clothing.

"Alright. Let's move out." John shouted over the howling winds of the storm. The group slowly trudged their way into the storm and kept walking, staying close to each other to avoid getting lost in the rolling winds of sand. They disappeared into the storm, unaware that some of them would not return out of their alive. The ruins of Sahara had claimed over thousands of lives in the past and present and would certainly claim some of their lives if not all of them.

 **1036 Hours**

The group so far had spent thirty minutes pushing through the storm, seemingly no end to the wind and sand. Team RWBY officially regretted their decision of clothing now, but there was nothing they could do about it at this rate. In a few minutes, they emerged from the sandstorm, seeing the large towers of the ruins of Sahara in the distance. They were on the outskirts of the city ruins, in front of a highway full of half buried cars littering both sides. Everyone removed or lifted up their goggles as John pulled his shemagh back down to his neck. "There it is. The former Jewel of the Dune Desert. Sahara."

"Man. Even if it's in ruins, it still is pretty impressive from here." Charlie commented, lifting the brim of his cap up slightly. Despite its state of ruin, Sahara was a unique city like no other. It had been free of Grimm like the town of Calm Waters so no walls were ever needed to defend it. It had soaring skyscrapers that were something that Mistral and Atlas helped out with, giving the city more cultural diversity. The largest tower was a specialized CCT tower that was a unique glass Vacuian styled building, making it the world's most beautiful tower until the sandstorm.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, take your safeties off and stay on high alert. Anything that wears Grimm masks is considered as a hostile and to be killed on sight." John ordered, flicking the safety off on his M35A2 Assault Rifle. The rest of his unit did the same while Team RWBY drew their own weapons out. As they moved down the road, Team RWBY grimaced at the many skeletal remains of the city's former inhabitants in their cars or on the ground partially mummified. Al walked over to one of the bodies and pulled out a small beaker tube and tweezers to peel off a piece of skin off of it. Weiss grimaced at this and almost would have berated him for disturbing the dead when Tiger spoke up.

"In case you hadn't noticed but these people were killed during the failed evacuations for reasons unknown during a sandstorm. A sandstorm wouldn't kill people inside their own cars. So the AOV wanted us to collect samples of the deceased to study and determine the cause of death." Tiger explained, just as Al closed the tube and gently stored it inside a impact protective steel kit hanging on his pack. Ruby looked around as they walked, her long hair and cloak blowing in the wind. She felt saddened at the sight of the bodies, but could do nothing for them.

"So why didn't the Commandant mention this in the briefing, Jaune?" Ruby asked, earning a grunt from John.

"Simple. You are here just to be a cover for the media since the Council wants Huntresses to be the real heroes instead of our own Marines." John answered, walking over to an old VMC Humvee. He rubbed some sand that was caked onto the side of the vehicle, revealing a skull emblem with "33rd" printed below it. This was the emblem of the "Damned" 33rd Valean Marine Corps Battalion, the unit that voluntarily went to Sahara to try and rescue the survivors, but instead, got branded as deserters and traitors for it. "For now, your orders are to listen to me for now and no shooting any survivors or remnants of the 33rd Battalion."

"Wait. Why are we sparing turncoats instead of killing them like the White Fang here? They are traitors of the Kingdom of Vale." Yang commented, rubbing some sand out of her robotic arm. Charlie looked at her and shook his head.

"Come on. You really think that unit would have gone rogue if they were heading into a shitstorm? Surely you would have remembered your history about the unit going into Sahara to evacuate those that couldn't get out in time." Charlie told her, flicking her on the forehead as he walked by. Yang glared at this but restrained herself since they were working together with Gravestone Squad. As they moved on, they reached a small area that had several Humvees and buses, one of which was full of sand and leaning over another. Mounted to the roof of one of the Humvees was a speaker hooked up to a laptop that was currently giving a static sound. Tiger, being the radio technician, walked over to it and began to tinker with it. The rest of Gravestone and Team RWBY covered the area, looking for various clues that could give them a new location to search.

"Well I'll be damned..." Tiger commented, his voice revealing interest and intrigue as he typed on the aging laptop. "Whoever made this speaker built at least two hundred more all over the city. All of them receive power by makeshift solar panels while a second battery is charged during the day to power it at night. And all are contact by an even more impressive landline system buried in the sand. Whoever built this system must have been one hell of a radio technician."

"Must have been either the city's technicians or maybe some of the tech heads from the old 33rd." Al commented, glancing around the area. Suddenly several armed figures popped out of their hiding places and aimed their weapons at the two teams down below. The Marines and Huntresses aimed their weapons back at them while the newcomers began to speak at them.

"Who are you and why are you here!?" One man demanded, gripping onto an aged Atlesian assault rifle. Most of the newcomers were clad in various clothing mixed with old military gear and hardware. Some even wore their own desert ghillies which aided with blending in with the terrain. The Marines turned to their squad leader who spoke up first.

"We're not here to fight you! We're members of the Valean Marine Corps! Can you tell us who you are and what happened here?" John shouted back, earning more shouts and the weapons aimed directly at him. Most of them were accusing them of being members of the Damned while some seemed a bit hesitant on what to do. John slowly put his weapon down next to the large piece of cover he was standing by and kept shouting at them that they were not hostile with his hands empty as a gesture. "Look! We're Valean Marine Corps Special Operations! We're not from the 33rd if that's what you are wondering! We are not your enemy!"

While the two sides were shouting at each other and simply pointing weapons, Team RWBY was thinking of a way to quickly solve the conflict. Ruby took notice that a few of the heavily armed newcomers were underneath the sand filled windows and that if the glass was broken would be buried underneath the sand, unable to attack the group and the Marines. Ruby carefully motioned for her teammates about her plan silently, earning nods from the other three. Ruby carefully aimed her sniper-scythe at the window and prepared to fire.

With John, he was slowly starting to talk down the tensions as he carefully examined the armed men's faces. Most of them were clearly not experienced combatants and some of them looked very nervous to be even considered combatants. It slowly dawned on John that none of them were even former soldiers. They were all civilians with guns. Scared civilians who had no idea what they were doing but just terrified. With this new information in mind, John motioned for his squad to stay in cover but to lower their weapons for now.

"Look. Just calm down. We are not here to harm you. We are lowering our weapons slowly. There is no need to fig-NO, RUBY! STOP!" John was too late when he got cut off by the familiar and unwelcomed sound of a sniper-scythe unfolding, followed instantly by the crack of a bullet. The glass above a few of the locals shattered, leaving no time for them to run or scream as the massive build up of sand above crushed them alive instantly in their new grave. John ducked into cover as the remaining locals panicked and fired wildly at them. The Marines kept in cover for now while the Huntresses instantly went upon the locals like Grimm themselves. "STOP IT! DAMMIT! STOP!"

John's shout were unheeded as Team RWBY swiftly dealt with the locals. Ruby was darting rapidly all over the battlefield, leaving traces of rose petals while unaware that the opponents she was 'knocking down' were slowly bleeding out with massive cuts across their torsos or chests. Weiss, using her glyphs and dust, froze some of the 'attackers' in place in full ice, leaving them to die from suffocation or instantly freeze to death. Blake cut down a few of her opponents with Gambol Shroud. However she was a bit shocked to see her blade covered in blood instead of being clean. As for Yang, she was frozen in shock upon striking her first opponent with Ember Cecilia only for his head to explode and cover her in blood and brain matter.

Within less than three minutes, the entire group of locals were killed or slowly dying from the Huntresses. Team RWBY, after finally stopping, suddenly realized that they and their weapons were covered in blood save for Weiss. Ruby slowly glanced down at Crescent Rose and her hands, slowly starting hyperventilate at the sight of the blood on her. Weiss was a bit shocked by the bodies littered all over the place as well as the sounds of the dying. Blake slowly rubbed her weapon with a rag, trying to take in the fact she killed a few people. Yang was still staring at her hands, not even getting angry over the fact her hair was covered in blood or brain matter.

Gravestone rushed over to one of the dying locals with some hope that they could save one of them at least from death. Al tore the man's shirt open while Tiger pulled out an aid kit from his vest. Charlie watched over the area along with John, making sure there were no more shooters. Al grimaced at the large slash across the man's chest and turned to John. The squad leader looked over and Al shook his head negatively at him. The poor local was fatally injured and was gonna die either way.

"W...why?" The dying man weakly asked with his arm stretched out towards Tiger. Tiger carefully grabbed the man's hand with his own and gently held it.

"I'm sorry, sir. We didn't mean for this to be the outcome." Tiger weakly apologized, feeling guilty about the entire situation and outcome. There was no way an apology would make this any better for the dying man and the entire fireteam knew it. The man slowly laid his head back against the sand and his hand went slack in Tiger's hand. Gently, the Marine laid the man's hand down before carefully closing the man's eyes. "God. I hate this mission already."

John slowly turned over to Team RWBY who were still comprehending their actions. The Marine leader walked over to them with a glare in his eyes. "Get it together and let's keep moving. Most likely we might have to fight more of these insurgents now thanks to this fucked up incident."

"How...How can you still be focused on the mission instead of the people you killed?" Ruby sobbed, tears slowly rolling down her face. Seeing no movement from her, John pulled her to her feet and backhanded her across the face. The slap snapped all of Team RWBY out of their trances, witnessing their leader on her knees while holding her tender cheek. John stood over her, holding his assault rifle in his hands as he spoke.

"I didn't kill these people. Team RWBY did. You're a team. Take responsibility of your actions and their consequences. Now grab your damn weapons and let's keep moving. This mission doesn't stop because you killed someone." John roughly spoke, picking up Crescent Rose off the sand and handing it to Ruby. The young woman slowly stared at her weapon before accepting it. She slowly got to her feet and weakly wiped the tears out of her eyes. She looked up at John who simply glanced at her for a moment. The Marine then walked back to his unit, clearing his throat. "Alright! Despite this setback, we are still continuing this mission. The current ROE is fire if fired upon. So if they shoot first, shoot to kill."

Team RWBY glanced at each other before slowly following Gravestone along the sand covered highway to the city. Unaware that they were slowly on a dark path that no ordinary person should ever walk on.

 **I decided to change the 2nd Chapter to this. I figured it would be better this way than the original 2nd Chapter. Tell me what you think in the reviews.**


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